Ultra-thin films beat evaporation

SPREADING an ultra-thin layer of organic molecules on the surface of reservoirs could prevent millions of cubic metres of precious water evaporating each year, according to a Canadian company that is the first to commercialise the technique.

The molecules form an invisible, biodegradable blanket that blocks the escape of water molecules into the air. Field tests of the technology in several countries show an average of 30 per cent reduction in the rate of evaporation. And saving the water costs less than half the price of replacing it, says Dan O'Brien, chief executive of Flexible Solutions in Victoria, British Columbia, the company that developed the process.

"It's pioneering work," adds Moshe Alamaro, an atmospheric scientist and an expert on monolayer applications at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "They are the first commercial enterprise using monolayers [to retard evaporation]," he says.

The idea of using monolayers of molecules in water is ...

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